Shatter Me
by AthenaxVio
Summary: A songfic adaptation of Chapter's 11 and 12 of the Four Swords Plus manga. ShadowxVio hinted at. The song is Shatter Me by Lindsey Stirling


_"I pirouette in the dark, I see the stars through me"  
><em>  
>It was quiet in the Shadow Realm, calm, still. The shadows were comforting, much better that the harsh reality of the light world, a dream of a dream where nobody could get hurt. Feelings, pain, bitter emotions of betrayal and heartbreak were all lost here, lost among the twisting shadows, twisting, turning, supporting.<p>

_"Tired mechanical heart beats 'til the song disappears."  
><em>  
>Shadow never wanted to leave this place again. He was safe here, he was untouched by the hurt he had experienced. His wounds didn't hurt, his broken heart didn't hurt, he was safe. The darkness and shadows were safe, and they were all he had.<p>

_"Somebody shine a light, I'm frozen by the fear in me"  
><em>  
>Suddenly, the darkness was disrupted. The shadows curled away and Shadow cried out as he was dragged away from their cold comfort, away from their numbing grasp and into harsh, warm light.<p>

"Lord Ganon...p-please forgive me! I don't want to go back to the world of light!"

**_I won't forgive you. You haven't fulfilled your task yet._****  
><strong>  
><em>"Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me"<br>_  
>The Hero's Shadow screamed-the light was burning, burning him and everything came rushing back. The betrayal, the heartbreak, the beam of holy light shattering his body.<p>

The sound of laughter and the feeling of warm skin beneath his fingers and lips and hushed breathing and whispers of I love you's in the middle of the night.

Everything hurt.

_"So cut me from the line-dizzy, spinning endlessly"  
><em>  
><em><strong>Now, revive Shadow! As long as the Dark Mirror exists, you're invincible!<br>**__  
>"Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me!"<em>

**_Go! Defeat the Hero!_**

_"Shatter me!"_

Sweat and shadowy ink dripped from his ears and hair and body as Shadow pushed himself into a sitting position, arms shaking with the exertion. He was weak, so weak, and in so much pain. His breathing was harsh, shaky, and blood pounded in his ears. Eyes, red like roses and rubies and blood drawn from biting too hard on one's lip lifted and focused on the princess in her regal pink gown with her _regal _golden ringlets of hair tossed by the wind and her **_regal fucking eyes drowning him in topaz oceans of pity._**

_"Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me!"  
><em>  
>"What are you staring at-" Words fell from his pale lips, harsh and cutting like the edge of a knife. "Go away."<p>

The princess only stared, silently, pitying the shadow.

_"If only the clockwork could speak, I wouldn't be so alone"  
><em>  
>Anger, fury so intense it washed out the pain for a moment, filled Shadow and he lashed out. "<em>DON'T GET NEAR ME! <em>Quit looking down at me like that, or don't pity me! My body suffocates when you do that."

_"We'd burn every magnet and spring and spiral into the unknown."  
><em>  
>"Damn-!" Words failed him as his anger failed him, leaving him with only pain once again.<p>

_"Somebody shine a light, I'm frozen by the fear in me"  
><em>  
>Princess Zelda spoke, her voice so soft he almost didn't hear her over the howling winds.<p>

"You think that light is always harming you?" She paused. "That's not true." Shadow's face turned up towards her, eyes wide, face vulnerable.

_"Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me"  
><em>  
>"You are one of the "Links". You are actually a hero yourself." More knives, sharper than words spoken in anger. The shadow had waited so long to hear that from someone. Zelda's words cut him like no shattered heart or ray of light could, and he cursed her wisdom.<p>

_"So cut me from the line-dizzy, spinning endlessly"  
><em>  
>Black clouds interrupted their talk of heroes and darkness and pity. Eyes like mirrors of the sky, once open, now closed.<p>

"L-...Link..." Feeble attempts to speak startled the shadow from his stupor.

"W-Wait, Dark Cloud! What are you gonna do with Princess Zelda?!"

_Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me!"  
><em>  
><strong>THIS IS THE ORDER OF LORD GANON.<strong>

Sinister words woven like spiderwebs, spun between pillars of light and darkness, throw chills down Shadow's spine.

**HE SAYS THAT ONCE GUFUU DEFEATS THE HEROES, ZELDA WILL BE THE ONLY LIGHT OF HYRULE LEFT.  
><strong>  
>This is wrong, this is not how things are supposed to be.<p>

**THEN WILL TRUE DARKNESS OF THE WORLD ARRIVE.**

_"If I break the glass, then I'll have to fly"_

"Zelda isn't to leave this room-! _Those _were Lord Ganon's orders!" Shadow shouted, bristling in indignation.

**HMPH. WEREN'T YOU HOGGING PRINCESS ZELDA UP HERE THE WHOLE TIME? YOU'RE JUST A MERE SHADOW CLONE. DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH.**

_"There's no one to catch me if I take a dive"  
><em>  
>Light, scorching and hot streamed through an opening in the Dark Cloud's mists. Pain wracked through his body in a shockwave that sent his mind panicking and reeling because <em><strong>it was just like last time, his body would shatter, he wouldn't be able to take it-!<br>**_  
>"STOP! Light...I'm scared of light..."<p>

**HURRY UP AND GO DO YOUR JOB MR. HERO'S SHADOW. DON'T FORGET THAT YOU ONLY EXIST THANKS TO LORD GANON!  
><strong>  
>"<em>I'm scared of change, and the days stay the same"<br>_  
>Fear-dilated eyes watched in what could be called shock as the black, poisonous formation streamed away. A pale, quiet face and golden hair peeked out momentarily, and Shadow's resolve crumbled.<p>

He would be a hero. He had to be, because he was.

_"The world is spinning but only in gray"  
><em>  
>Every step down the stairs was agony, but the shadow carried on. His appearance melted and morphed into the person he knew best, the wheaten haired hero in the violet tunic.<p>

_A warm body lay by his, hair tousled where his hat had been removed. Fire crackled merrily in front of them and the rug was soft. A thousand scents filled the air, but Shadow's senses were trained on the body next to him.  
><em>  
>Shadow's eyes, now colored a certain blue-violet that reminded him of the flowers in Hyrule Field, fell upon one of his lookalikes- the leader, clothed in a tunic of emerald. He called out to him, and the hero rushed to him, asking if he was alright. Ah, what it was like to be accepted.<p>

"D...Don't worry about me. Princess Zelda's in danger..." Vio's voice dripped like venom from his lips, and Shadow's heart squeezed. "If we don't save her soon, she'll be killed by Dark Cloud's poison!"

Green wasn't as trusting as Shadow'd thought, but that was to be expected. The lookalikes dressed in scarlet and oceans respectively caught up, and Shadow led them on. The tower was too far away, turn the orb, turn the orb- the hot-headed ocean-tunic'd hero did that. Get across the stairs-that's a hand. Gufuu's hand to be precise.

_"__**HeRoEs, wHeRe DiD yOu Go?!"**_

"Is that hand part of Gufuu?"

"That guy has no true form. He's in that messed up form cause all that's in his head is ya'll's destruction."

"'Ya'll'?" Shadow cursed mentally. Damn his lack of proper schooling.

_"If I break the glass, then I'll have to fly"_

A large red eye surrounded by black and inky violet crashed into the tower, sending white marble bricks cascading down in a vicious waterfall around them. Shadow told Green what to do and he questioned him again, dammit, just trust him, he was Shadow pretending to be Vio and he knew what he was talking about. Then it didn't work and the nervous pit in his stomach dropped to the floor and he knew what he had to do as he heard the real Vio's voice and fled. _  
><em>  
><em>"There's no one to catch me if I take a dive"<br>_  
>Appearance back to normal, he was crawling back up the tower, it was coming down around him he had to hurry- "It's the Dark Mirror...as long as it exists, Gufuu will be unstoppable! Damn-!"<p>

_He would cease to exist, he knew that, but he did it anyway._

_"I'm scared of change, and the days stay the same"  
><em>  
>Finally, the top of the tower, but it was sweet relief for only a moment. Zelda's chair stood out in the corner of his eye and he was dizzy, feeling nauseous but he grabbed it and brought it down on the mirrors surface with all of his strength. Glass shattered and his body filled with such agony as each little shard tinkled on the floor.<p>

It wasn't enough.  
><em><br>"The world is spinning but only in gray"  
><em>  
><em><strong>"ThE, tHe DaRk MiRrOr! HaVe YoU gOnE nUtS sHaDoW lInK?!"<br>**_  
>The panic in Gufuu's voice made Shadow laugh. "He he he...Now the darkness can't be reborn anymore."<p>

_"Somebody shine a light, I'm frozen by the fear in me"  
><em>  
>He pulled himself up behind the Mirror, leaning and pushing with whatever willpower he had left.<p>

_"_**_ThIs AlSo MeAnS yOu'lL bE tHrOwInG yOuR oWn LiFe AwAy FoOl!"  
><em>**  
>Shadow smiled, the twisted expression meeting his eyes. He looked like the Cheshire Cat as he smiled, and that made him grin even wider. He knew his fate already.<p>

_"Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me"  
><em>  
>"What's wrong with that? I was born out of the Dark Mirror...and with my hands I unleashed you."<p>

The mirror tipped forward, uncontrollable now, the wooden backing leaving his fingers. Shadow watched it fall, feeling like everything was slowing down just for this moment.

"Ain't it perfect for both of us to die together?" He asked quietly, calmly, the feeling of cold wood on his fingertips evanescent now. He, too, was falling, and stared up at the sky listlessly.

_"So cut me from the line-d_izzy, spinning endlessly"

**"STOP IT!"  
><strong>  
><em>"Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me!"<br>_  
>"Shadow!"<p>

Ah, that voice, smooth as honey yet filled with venom. Shadow's eyes focused on the face that pushed it's way into the sky. He stared into the blue-violet eyes, barely registering the question.

"Did...that Gufuu disappear...?"

_"Shatter me!"  
><em>  
>He had, Vio reassured him. Don't cry Vio. Shadow wanted to say that, but there was something more important, something that he needed Green and Blue and Red to hear, because he knew that Vio already knew both that, and the most important thing.<p>

"You know...shadows...can never do anything but follow behind their owners." Please, world, don't fade out on him now. "Backs...facing us...never turning around. But this shadow was able to turn before ya'll and defeat ya'll's enemy. Isn't that...something." Shadow sighed, quieted, then forced his eyes back open when he heard Vio sob.

"I wonder if I was...able to become one of those...ally things...?"

"You're one of us."

_"Somebody make me feel alive and shatter me!"_

The shadow smiled and his eyes softened. His body shimmered and a beautiful light shined before his eyes. But he wasn't scared. A pale hand reached for the light, then he was light on his feet and laughing and then there was only bliss.

He was a hero.


End file.
